Method and terminal for displaying a plurality of pages,method and terminal for displaying a plurality of applications being executed on terminal, and method of executing a plurality of applications

ABSTRACT

A method of displaying a plurality of pages on a screen of a terminal is provided. The method includes detecting a user&#39;s gesture that requests movement of the plurality of pages, identifying a movement mode relating to the movement of the plurality of pages, and moving and displaying a first page displayed on the screen and a second page connected to the first page displayed on the screen according to the identified movement mode, wherein the movement mode is one of a discrete mode and a continuous mode.

PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Koreanpatent application filed on Apr, 26, 2012 in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office and assigned Serial No. 10-2012-0043893, a Korean patentapplication filed on Aug. 28, 2012 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice and assigned Serial No. 10-2012-0094446, and a Korean patentapplication filed on Dec. 28, 2012 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice and assigned Serial No. 10-2012-0157206, the entire disclosure ofeach of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a method and terminal for displaying aplurality of pages according to the size of a physical screen of aterminal, a method and terminal for displaying a plurality ofapplications being executed on the terminal, and a method of executing aplurality of applications.

2. Description of the Related Art:

A terminal may be configured to perform various functions such as a dataand voice communication function, a function of capturing an image ortaking a video by using a camera, a voice storing function, a functionof playing a music file by using a speaker system, a function ofdisplaying an image or video, and the like.

Some terminals include an additional function of performing a game,while other terminals are implemented as a multimedia device.Furthermore, as the development of smart phones has considerablyaccelerated, the development and use of various applications for smartphones have increased.

However, when a terminal provides a multi-window function, due to alimited screen size, only one or a few of windows can be executed, andthus, the utility of such multi-windows function is limited.

Thus, there is a need for the development of a system to maximize theuse of multi-windows.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determinationhas been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide a method and terminal for displaying a pluralityof pages according to a movement mode, a method and terminal fordisplaying a plurality of applications being executed on the terminal,and a method of executing a plurality of applications.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a method of displayinga plurality of pages on a screen of a terminal is provided. The methodincludes detecting a user's gesture that requests movement of theplurality of pages, identifying a movement mode relating to the movementof the plurality of pages, and moving and displaying a first pagedisplayed on the screen and a second page connected to the first pagedisplayed on the screen according to the identified movement mode,wherein the movement mode is one of a discrete mode and a continuousmode.

The moving and displaying may include, in the discrete mode, moving thefirst page displayed on the screen and the second page connected to thefirst page in units of page, and in the continuous mode, moving thefirst page displayed on the screen and the second page connected to thefirst page in units of pixel.

The moving and displaying may include, when the identified movement modeis the discrete mode, moving the first page displayed on the screen andthe second page connected to the first page and displaying the secondpage in an entire region of the screen.

The moving and displaying may include, when the identified movement modeis the continuous mode, moving the first page displayed on the screenand the second page connected to the first page and displaying a part ofthe first page and a part of the second page together on the screen.

The method may further include determining a size of the part of thefirst page displayed on the screen and a size of the part of the secondpage displayed on the screen based on a length of the user's gesture.

The method may further include detecting a user's input that requestsexecution of at least one application, and displaying an executionwindow of the at least one application on the part of the first pagedisplayed on the screen and the part of the second page displayed on thescreen in response to the user's input.

The method may further include detecting a user's mode change requestthat changes the movement mode from the continuous mode to the discretemode, and changing the movement mode from the continuous mode to thediscrete mode in response to the user's mode change request.

The changing of the movement mode from the continuous mode to thediscrete mode may include selecting one of the first page and the secondpage, and displaying the execution window of the at least oneapplication on the one selected page.

The selecting of the one of the first page and the second page mayinclude selecting the one of the first page and the second page based ona ratio of a first portion of the execution window of the at least oneapplication displayed in the first page to a second portion of theexecution window of the at least one application displayed in the secondpage.

The changing of the movement mode from the continuous mode to thediscrete mode may include displaying one of the first page and thesecond page in an entire region of the screen.

The displaying of the one of the first page and the second page in theentire region of the screen may include selecting one of the first pageto the second page based on a ratio of the part of the first pagedisplayed on the screen and the part of the second page displayed on thescreen.

The method may further include setting the movement mode in advancebased on a user's input.

The user's gesture may include at least one of a drag gesture and aflick gesture.

The identifying of the movement mode may include identifying themovement mode based on a type of the user's gesture.

The identifying of the movement mode may include, if the user's gestureincludes a one-finger drag input, determining that the movement mode isthe discrete mode, and if the user's gesture includes a two-finger draginput, determining that the movement mode is the continuous mode.

The plurality of pages may be arranged in at least one selected from agroup consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The second page may be a page connected to the first page in at leastone selected from a group consisting of a vertical direction, ahorizontal direction, and a diagonal direction.

The method may further include receiving a user's pinch input on thescreen, and displaying all of the plurality of pages as thumbnails onthe screen.

The method may further include, as one page is selected from theplurality of pages displayed as thumbnails and the selected page isdragged and dropped, changing positions where the plurality of pages isarranged.

The method may further include, as an execution window of an applicationdisplayed on a third page from among the plurality of pages displayed asthumbnails is selected and is dragged and dropped to a fourth page,moving the execution window of the application from the third page tothe fourth page and displaying the execution window of the applicationon the fourth page.

The method may further include displaying a list of at least oneapplication that is executed by the terminal on the screen.

The method may further include receiving a selection of at least oneapplication from the list of the at least one application, anddisplaying a page where an execution window of the selected applicationis included, from among the plurality of pages, on the screen of theterminal.

The method may further include, as an execution window of an applicationincluded in the first page displayed on the screen is selected andflicked in a direction of the second page, moving the execution windowof the selected application from the first page displayed on the screento the second page connected to the first page.

The method may further include displaying the second page to which theexecution window of the application is moved, on the screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a terminal fordisplaying a plurality of pages on a screen is provided. The terminalincludes a user input unit detecting a user's gesture that requestsmovement of the plurality of pages, a control unit identifying amovement mode relating to the movement of the plurality of pages, and adisplay unit moving and displaying a first page displayed on the screenand a second page connected to the first page displayed on the screenaccording to the identified movement mode, wherein the movement mode isone of a discrete mode and a continuous mode.

When the identified movement mode is the discrete mode, the display unitmay move the first page displayed on the screen and the second pageconnected to the first page and may display the second page in an entireregion of the screen.

When the identified movement mode is the continuous mode, the displayunit may move the first page displayed on the screen and the second pageconnected to the first page and may display a part of the first page anda part of the second page together on the screen.

The control unit may determine a size of the part of the first pagedisplayed on the screen and a size of the part of the second pagedisplayed on the screen based on a length of the user's gesture.

The user input unit may detect a user's input that requests execution ofat least one application, and the display unit may display an executionwindow of the at least one application on the part of the first pagedisplayed on the screen and the part of the second page displayed on thescreen in response to the user's input.

The user input unit may detect a user's mode change request that changesthe movement mode from the continuous mode to the discrete mode, and thecontrol unit may change the movement mode from the continuous mode tothe discrete mode in response to the user's mode change request.

The control unit may select one of the first page and the second pageand may control the display unit so that the execution window of the atleast one application is displayed on the one selected page.

The control unit may set the movement mode in advance based on a user'sinput.

The control unit may identify the movement mode based on a type of theuser's gesture.

If the user's gesture includes a one-finger drag input, the control unitmay determine that the movement mode is the discrete mode, and if theuser's gesture includes a two-finger drag input, the control unit maydetermine that the movement mode is the continuous mode.

The user input unit may receive a user's pinch input on the screen, andthe display unit may display all of the plurality of pages as thumbnailson the screen.

As one page is selected from the plurality of pages displayed asthumbnails and the selected page is dragged and dropped, the controlunit may change positions where the plurality of pages is arranged.

As an execution window of an application displayed on a third page fromamong the plurality of pages displayed as thumbnails is selected and isdragged and dropped to a fourth page, the control unit may move theexecution window of the application from the third page to the fourthpage and displays the execution window of the application on the fourthpage.

The display unit may display a list of at least one application that isexecuted by the terminal on the screen.

The user input unit may receive a selection of at least one applicationfrom the list of the at least one application, and the display unit maydisplay a page where an execution window of the selected application isincluded, from among the plurality of pages, on the screen of theterminal

As an execution window of an application included in the first pagedisplayed on the screen is selected and flicked in a direction of thesecond page, the control unit may move the execution window of theselected application from the first page displayed on the screen to thesecond page connected to the first page.

The display unit of the terminal may display a page to which theapplication is moved, on the screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofdisplaying a plurality of applications being executed on a terminal isprovided. The method includes executing the plurality of applications,extending a background screen based on the execution, arranging theplurality of applications executed on the extended background screen,and displaying the extended background screen, wherein the extendedbackground screen includes a region that is currently displayed by adisplay unit of the terminal and a region that is not currentlydisplayed by the display unit of the terminal.

The extending of the background screen may include extending thebackground screen from the currently-displayed region in a predetermineddirection as the plurality of applications is executed.

The predetermined direction may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The arranging of the plurality of applications executed on the extendedbackground screen may include arranging execution screens of theplurality of applications executed on the extended background screenaccording to a predetermined criterion.

The predetermined criterion may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of an order in which the plurality of applications isexecuted, and types of the plurality of applications.

The method may further include receiving an external input to thecurrently-displayed region, moving the extended background screen in apredetermined direction based on the received external input, anddisplaying the moved, extended background screen, wherein thecurrently-displayed region is changed according to a movement directionand a movement quantity of the background screen.

The predetermined direction may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The method may further include selecting at least one from among theplurality of applications executed, receiving a control input to the atleast one selected application, and controlling an execution state ofthe at least one selected application based on the received controlinput.

The controlling of the executing state of the at least one selectedapplication based on the received control input may include at least oneselected from a group consisting of changing a size of an executionscreen of the at least one selected application, changing a position ofthe execution screen of the at least one selected application on theextended background screen, and terminating the at least one selectedapplication.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a terminal fordisplaying a plurality of applications being executed on the terminal isprovided. The terminal includes an execution unit executing theplurality of applications, a screen extending unit extending abackground screen based on the execution, an arranging unit arrangingthe plurality of applications executed on the extended backgroundscreen, and a display unit displaying the extended background screen,wherein the extended background screen includes a region that iscurrently displayed by a display unit of the terminal and a region thatis not currently displayed by the display unit of the terminal.

The screen extending unit may extend the background screen from thecurrently-displayed region in a predetermined direction as the pluralityof applications is executed.

The predetermined direction may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The arranging unit may arrange execution screens of the plurality ofapplications executed on the extended background screen according to apredetermined criterion.

The predetermined criterion may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of an order in which the plurality of applications isexecuted, and types of the plurality of applications.

The terminal may further include a receiving unit receiving an externalinput to the currently-displayed region, and a screen moving unit movingthe extended background screen in a predetermined direction based on thereceived external input, wherein the display unit displays the moved,extended background screen, and the currently-displayed region ischanged according to a movement direction and a movement quantity of thebackground screen.

The predetermined direction may include at least one selected from agroup consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The terminal may further include a selection unit selecting at least onefrom among the plurality of applications executed, a receiving unitreceiving a control input to the at least one selected application, anda control unit controlling an execution state of the at least oneselected application based on the received control input.

The controlling of the executing state of the at least one selectedapplication based on the received control input may include at least oneselected from a group consisting of changing a size of an executionscreen of the at least one selected application, changing a position ofthe execution screen of the at least one selected application on theextended background screen, and terminating the at least one selectedapplication.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program forexecuting the above-described method is provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method ofexecuting a plurality of applications on a terminal is provided. Themethod includes arranging execution windows of the plurality ofapplications executed on the terminal in a virtualized logical spaceregion, moving the execution windows of the plurality of applicationsarranged in the virtualized logical space region based on a user's touchinput to the terminal, and displaying an execution window of at leastone application from among the execution windows of the plurality ofapplications arranged in the virtualized logical space region in adisplay region of the terminal based on the movement, wherein thevirtualized logical space region is a space in which the display regionof the terminal is virtually extended.

The arranging may include arranging the execution windows of theplurality of applications in the virtualized logical space region basedon at least one selected from a group consisting of an order in whichthe plurality of applications is executed, and types of the plurality ofapplications.

The arranging may include arranging the execution windows of theplurality of applications in at least one selected from a groupconsisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

The method may further include executing the plurality of applications,and extending the virtualized logical space region based on theexecution.

The moving of the execution windows of the plurality of applications mayinclude identifying a movement mode relating to movement of theexecution windows of the plurality of applications, and moving theexecution windows of the plurality of applications according to theidentified movement mode, wherein the movement mode includes one of adiscrete mode in which the execution windows of the plurality ofapplications is discontinuously displayed in the display region, and acontinuous mode in which the execution windows of the plurality ofapplications is continuously displayed in the display region.

The user's touch input may include at least one selected from a groupconsisting of a drag input regarding a region in which the executionwindow of the at least one application is displayed, of the displayregion and a drag input regarding a region in which an execution windowof at least one application is not displayed, of the display region.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of a screen on which a plurality of pages is displayedby virtualizing a display region of a terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a plurality ofpages according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a plurality ofpages according to a discrete mode or a continuous mode according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view of a discrete mode according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view of a continuous mode according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A through 6C are views of screens on which a plurality of pagesis displayed in a continuous mode, according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a window for setting a movement modeaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of changing a modeaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A through 9D are views illustrating movement of an executionwindow of an application when a continuous mode is changed into adiscrete mode, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a view of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for moving aplurality of pages according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of editing a plurality ofpages according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are views of screens on which a plurality of pages isdisplayed in the form of a thumbnail, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a page inwhich an application selected by a user is included, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 14A and 14B are views of screens on which the list of a pluralityof applications is displayed, according to another exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a view of a user's input that allows an application displayedon a screen to be moved to another page, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a view of a result of a screen on which an applicationdisplayed on the screen is moved to another page, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a view of a screen on which a page to which an application ismoved, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a pluralityof applications being executed on a terminal, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a view of a screen on which a plurality of applications beingexecuted on a terminal are displayed, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of displaying anextended background screen by changing a region currently displayed asthe extended background screen is moved, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a view of movement of the extended background screen and achange of the region currently displayed, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of displaying controlof applications that are arranged on an extended background screen andare executed thereon, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 24 is a view of control of applications to change a size of anapplication, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 25 is a view of control of applications to change a position of anapplication, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 26A and 26B are views of control to terminate an application,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of a terminal for displaying a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of a terminal for displaying a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a method of executing a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplaryembodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the embodiments described hereincan be made without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of theinvention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention is provided for illustration purpose only and not forthe purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claimsand their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

When a unit “comprises” an element in the present disclosure, the unitdoes not exclude another element but may further comprise anotherelement unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition,terms such as “ . . . unit”, “module”, and the like used herein indicatea unit for performing at least one function or operation and may beimplemented by hardware or a combination of hardware and software.

In the present disclosure, an “application” means a set of computerprograms that are developed to carry out a particular work. Variousapplications may be described in the present disclosure. Examples ofvarious applications include a game application, a video playingapplication, a map application, a memo application, a broadcastingapplication, a sports support application, a payment application, aphoto editing application, and the like. However, aspects of the presentinvention are not limited thereto.

In the present disclosure, a “touch input” means a gesture that is doneon a touch screen in order for a user to control a terminal. Examples oftouch inputs described in the present disclosure include tap, touch &hold, double tap, drag, panning, flick, drag and drop, and the like.

“Tap” indicates an operation in which the user touches a screen veryquickly by using a finger or a touch instrument such as a stylus. Thatis, “tap” indicates the case where a time difference between a touch-intime when the user's finger or touch instrument contacts the screen anda touch-out time when the user's finger or touch instrument takes awayfrom the screen is very short.

“Touch & hold” indicates an operation in which the user touches thescreen by using a finger or a touch instrument such as the stylus andthen the touch input is maintained for a critical time or more. That is,“touch & hold” means a case where the time difference between thetouch-in time and the touch-out time is equal to the critical time orlonger. In order to allow the user to recognize whether a touch input isa tap or a touch & hold, if the touch input is maintained for thecritical time or more, a feedback signal may be provided to the uservisually or auditorily.

“Double tap” indicates an operation in which the user touches the screentwice quickly by using a finger or a touch instrument such as thestylus.

“Drag” indicates an operation in which the user touches the screen byusing a finger or a touch instrument and moving the finger or touchinstrument to another position on the screen while maintaining thecontact between the finger or touch instrument and the screen. When adrag operation is performed, an object may be moved, or a panningoperation that is described below is performed.

“Panning” indicates a case where the user performs a drag operationwithout selecting an object. Since in the panning operation a particularobject is not selected, the object is not moved within a page but thepage itself is moved in the screen or a group of objects is moved withinthe page.

“Flick” indicates an operation in which the user performs a dragoperation very quickly by using a finger or a touch instrument. The drag(or panning) operation and the flick operation may be discriminateddepending on whether the speed of moving the touch instrument is acritical speed or more.

“Drag & drop” indicates an operation in which the user drags an objectto a predetermined position on the screen and then drops the object byterminating the contact between the finger or touch instrument and thescreen.

“Pinch” indicates an operation in which the user moves two fingers indifferent directions with touching the screen. The pinch operation is agesture for pinch opening or pinch closing of an object or page, and apinch open value or a pinch close value is determined according to adistance between the two fingers.

“Swipe” is an operation in which the user moves a finger or a touchinstrument in a horizontal or vertical direction by a predetermineddistance while touching an object on the screen via the finger or thetouch instrument. A movement in a diagonal direction may not berecognized as a swipe event.

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of theinvention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein; rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. For clarity, in the drawings, irrelevant portionswith respect to the description of the present invention are omitted,and similar reference numbers are added to similar portions throughoutthe entire disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a view of a screen on which a plurality of pages is displayedby virtualizing a display region of a terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a terminal 100 according to the current exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may provide a logical space region10 that is formed by virtualizing a physical display region 20. Thelogical space region 10 according to the present exemplary embodimentmay include a plurality of pages on which a plurality of applicationsmay be independently executed and displayed.

Each of the plurality of pages may display an execution window in whichat least one application is executed. In addition, the size of each ofthe pages may be the same as the size of the physical display region 20.The physical display region 20 may refer to an actual display region ofthe terminal 100, i.e., a screen.

The plurality of pages may be arranged in the logical space region 10 inat least one selected from the group consisting of a vertical direction,a horizontal direction, and a diagonal direction. Thus, the plurality ofpages may include information regarding positions where the plurality ofpages is arranged in the logical space region 10, for example,coordinate values, as well as coordinates on the physical display region20. According to the present exemplary embodiment, positions where theplurality of pages is arranged in the logical space region 10 may vary.For example, the terminal 100 may move and rearrange the plurality ofpages in the logical space region 10 based on a touch input by a user'sfinger or an electronic pen. That is, the user may manage the positionswhere the plurality of pages is arranged in the logical space region 10based on a touch gesture.

The plurality of pages may be moved to and displayed in the physicaldisplay region 10 in units of page or pixel. For example, when the usertouches the terminal 100 and drags an object on a screen of the terminal100 in a predetermined direction, the terminal 100 may move theplurality of pages along the drag direction so that a particular pagemay be displayed on the screen.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pagemay be added to the logical space region 10 based on execution of anapplication. That is, when an application is executed, a page may bedynamically added to the logical space region 10.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, apage may be added based on a user's page addition request (see 1240 ofFIG. 12B). In this case, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the user may also set the size of an added page. Forexample, when the size of a general page is 1000×600 (pixel), the usermay adjust the size of the added page as 700×300 (pixel).

The terminal 100 may be implemented in various shapes. For example, theterminal 100 described in the present disclosure may be a mobile phone,a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet Personal Computer (PC), anelectronic book terminal, a digital broadcasting terminal, a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player, a navigationdevice, a digital audio player, a digital camera, or the like. However,aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, a method of displaying a plurality of pages on which anapplication is executed will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a plurality ofpages according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S210, the terminal 100 (see FIG. 1) may detect a user'sgesture that requests movement of the plurality of pages. The user'sgesture includes a touch gesture, for example, a drag gesture, a flickgesture, or a tap gesture. However, aspects of the present invention arenot limited thereto. That is, the screen of the terminal 100 illustratedin FIG. 1 may be a touch screen that provides a touch interface to theuser.

For example, when the user touches the terminal 100 with a finger or anelectronic pen and drags the same on a part of the screen in apredetermined direction, the terminal 100 may sense that a drag eventoccurred. The terminal 100 may also sense a drag speed, a dragdirection, and the like.

In operation S220, the terminal 100 may identify a movement moderelating to movement of pages. The movement mode according to thepresent exemplary embodiment may be a discrete mode or a continuousmode.

The discrete mode refers to a mode in which a plurality of pages isdiscontinuously moved. The terminal 100 may move the plurality of pagesin units of page in the discrete mode. In this case, according to thepresent exemplary embodiment, the terminal 100 may move the plurality ofpages in units of one page or several pages.

The continuous mode refers to a mode in which the plurality of pages iscontinuously moved. The terminal 100 may move the plurality of pages inunits of pixel in the continuous mode.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the terminal 100 may seta movement mode in advance based on the user input. For example, FIG. 7illustrates an example of a window for setting a movement mode accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, when a toggle switch of a Smooth virtual space ismoved to the left (is enabled), the terminal 100 may set a movement modeas a continuous mode, and when a toggle switch of a Smooth virtual spaceis moved to the right (is disabled), the terminal 100 may set a movementmode as a discrete mode.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the terminal 100 mayidentify a movement mode based on a type of a user's gesture. Forexample, when a gesture is a one finger drag input (drag performed bytouching the screen with one finger), the terminal 100 may determine amovement mode as a discrete mode, and when a gesture is a two fingerdrag input (drag performed by touching the screen with two or morefingers), the terminal 100 may determine a movement mode as adiscontinuous mode. That is, the user drags one finger on the screen soas to move the plurality of pages in units of page, and the user dragstwo or more fingers on the screen so as to drag the pages in units ofpixel.

Contrary to this, when a gesture is a one finger drag input (dragperformed by touching the screen with one screen), the terminal 100 maydetermine the movement mode as a continuous mode, and when a gesture isa two finger drag input (drag performed by touching the screen with twoor more fingers), the terminal 100 may determine the movement mode as adiscrete mode. The continuous mode and the discrete mode may be mappedwith another gesture and thus may be set.

In operation S230, the terminal 100 may move and display the pagedisplayed on the screen and a page connected to the page displayed onthe screen according to the identified movement mode. For example,according to the present exemplary embodiment, when the drag input isreceived, the terminal 100 may move the page displayed on the screen andthe page connected to the page displayed on the screen according to themovement mode. The terminal 100 may display at least one of the pagedisplayed on the screen and the page connected to the page displayed onthe screen on the screen. This will be described in detail below withreference to FIG. 3.

The page connected to the page displayed on the screen may be a pagethat is connected to the page displayed on the logical space region 10of the screen in at least one selected from the group consisting of avertical direction, a horizontal direction, and a diagonal direction.Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a ‘page connected to thepage displayed on the screen’ is referred to as a ‘connected page’.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the terminal 100 maydetermine directions in which the plurality of pages is moved based on agesture's movement direction (for example, the drag direction). Forexample, when the user drags an object on the screen from right to left,the terminal 100 may move the plurality of pages from right to left. Theterminal 100 may move the page displayed on the screen and a pageconnected to the right of the page displayed on the screen to the left.

In addition, when the user drags an object on the screen from top tobottom, the terminal 100 may move the plurality of pages from top tobottom. The terminal 100 may move the page displayed on the screen and apage connected to the top of the page displayed on the screen to thebottom.

A method of moving and displaying the page displayed on the screen andthe connected page according to a movement mode will now be describedwith reference to FIG. 3 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a plurality ofpages according to a discrete mode or a continuous mode according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation 310, the terminal 100 may detect a user's gesture (forexample, a drag input) that requests movement of the plurality of pages.In operation S320, the terminal 100 may identify a movement mode.Operations S310 and S320 correspond to operations S210 and S220 of FIG.2, and thus, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In operation S330, when a movement mode is a discrete mode, the terminal100 (see FIG. 1) may move the page displayed on the screen and theconnected page discontinuously. In this case, since the movement mode isa discrete mode, the plurality of pages may be moved in units of page(i.e., according to the size of the screen). Thus, in operation S340,the terminal 100 may display the connected page in the entire region ofthe screen. This will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a view of a discrete mode according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the user drags (or flicks) an object on thescreen in the discrete mode, a plurality of pages is moved in units ofpage. For example, when the user drags an object on a screen on which afirst page 410 is displayed, the terminal 100 may move a plurality ofpages so as to display a second page 420 on the screen. In addition,when the user drags an object on a screen on which the second page 420is displayed, the terminal 100 may move a plurality of pages so as todisplay a third page 430 on the screen.

Thus, according to the present exemplary embodiment, even though aplurality of applications simultaneously executed are not displayed onone screen, the plurality of applications may be displayed on aplurality of pages in the logical space region 10 (see FIG. 1), and apage displayed on the screen may be changed by a simple gesture so thatthe utility of using a multi window may be maximized.

Referring back to FIG. 3, in operation S350, when the movement mode is acontinuous mode, the terminal 100 may move the page displayed on thescreen and the connected page continuously (for example, in units ofpixel). For example, the terminal 100 may move the page displayed on thescreen and the connected page based on the movement length of the user'sgesture (for example, the length of the drag input).

In operation S360, the terminal 100 may display a part of the pagedisplayed on the screen and a part of the connected page together on thescreen. In this case, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theterminal 100 may determine the size of a part of the page displayed onthe screen and the size of a part of the connected page based on themovement length of the user's gesture (for example, the length of a draginput).

For example, when the user drags an object on the screen in the rightdirection by 1cm, the terminal 100 may move the page displayed on thescreen and the connected page by one pixel (or coordinate) correspondingto the distance of 1 cm to the right so that a part of the pagedisplayed on the screen and a part of a page connected to the left ofthe page displayed on the screen may be displayed on the screen. Thiswill be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 5 is a view of a continuous mode according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the user may drag an object on the screen inthe left or right direction. In this case, the terminal 100 may move aplurality of pages by the length of a user's drag input. Thus, in acontinuous mode, one page may be displayed on the screen or a part oftwo pages may be displayed on the screen together.

For example, when the user drags an object on a screen on which a secondpage including a web browser is displayed in the left direction, a partof the second page including the web browser and a part of a third pageincluding my files may be displayed on a screen 510 (see FIGS. 6Athrough 6C).

On the other hand, when the user drags an object on the screen 510 onwhich a part of the second page and a part of the third page aredisplayed in the right direction, a part of the second page and a partof a first page including a memo application may be displayed on ascreen 511. In addition, when the user drags an object on the screen 510on which a part of the second page and a part of the third page aredisplayed in the left direction, a part of the third page and a part ofa fourth page including a video playing application may be displayed ona screen 512.

FIGS. 6A through 6C are views of screens on which a plurality of pagesis displayed in a continuous mode, according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the terminal 100 may detect a user's input thatdrags a screen on which a second page is displayed, in the leftdirection. In this case, when a movement mode is a continuous mode, theterminal 100 may move the second page and a third page connected to thesecond page in units of pixel by the length of the detected drag input.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the terminal 100 may display apart of the second page including a web browser and a part of the thirdpage including my documents on the screen.

The terminal 100 may detect a user's input that executes a newapplication 600 apart from the web browser and my documents. In thiscase, when a movement mode is a continuous mode, as illustrated in FIG.6C, a border between pages disappears, and the terminal 100 may displayan execution window of the new application 600 on a part of the secondpage displayed on the screen and a part of the third page connected tothe second page.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a window for setting a movement modeaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The setting window may be a window to which a user's setting value isinput in relation to display of a plurality of display windows when theplurality of display windows are displayed together on the screen of theterminal 100.

Referring to FIG. 7, the setting window according to the presentexemplary embodiment may include a Support All Apps field 70, an IgnoreIntent's Window Mode field 71, a Behavior based App Launch field 72, anOne Step Fling Title field 73, a Smooth virtual space field 74, a Scrollby fling field 75, a Fling Gesture Mode field 76, a Move Gesture Modefield 77, and a two Finger Gesture Mode field 78. In addition, buttons(for example, toggle switches) for enabling functions corresponding tothe fields 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78 may be included in thefields 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, and 78 of the setting window.

The Support All Apps field 70 is a field that is set to support a multiwindow function on other applications that are not set to support amulti window function as well as applications that are set to supportmulti window. If the function of the Support All Apps field 70 isenabled, the multi window function may be supported for all applicationsin the terminal 100. However, aspects of the present invention are notlimited thereto.

The Ignore Intent's Window Mode field 71 is a field that ignores user'ssettings relating to multi window support. For example, if the IgnoreIntent's Window Mode field 71 is enabled, even when the user executes anapplication in the entire screen mode, the application may be executedin a multi window mode (not in the entire screen mode) when theapplication starts being executed.

The Behavior based App Launch field 72 is a field in which a displaywindow of a newly-executed application is displayed in a display mode ofa display window that is enabled on the screen of the terminal 100.

The One Step Fling Title field 73 is a field that conveniently providessettings of a multi window function to the user. If the One Step FlingTitle field 73 is disabled, a bar disposed on the top of the screen ofthe terminal 100 may be extended in a downward direction by a user'stouch and may be dropped, and the multi window function may be set basedon a user's input using a predetermined menu included in the extendedbar. However, if the One Step Fling Title field 73 is enabled, when thebar disposed on the top of the screen of the terminal 100 is extended inthe downward direction by a user's touch and is dropped, the multiwindow function may be immediately executed.

The Smooth virtual space field 74 is a field in which a plurality ofpages is continuously moved on a launcher screen or home screen of theterminal 100. If the Smooth virtual space field 74 is enabled, aplurality of pages displayed on the screen of the terminal 100 may becontinuously moved based on a user's drag or flick input. In detail, afirst page displayed on the screen of the terminal 100 may becontinuously moved in a direction of a user's flick input by apredetermined distance based on the user's flick input on a first pagedisplayed on the screen of the terminal 100. In addition, as a result ofmoving the first page, a part of a second page connected to the firstpage and a part of the first page may be together displayed on thescreen of the terminal 100 in a stopped state.

If the Smooth virtual space field 74 is disabled, a plurality of pagesdisplayed on the screen of the terminal 100 may be discontinuously movedbased on a user's drag or flick input. For example, a second pageconnected to a first page displayed on the screen of the terminal 100may be displayed on the screen of the terminal 100 based on a user'sflick input on the first page displayed on the screen of the terminal100.

The Scroll by fling field 75 is a field in which a predetermined pagedisplayed on the display window is moved to the previous or next pagebased on a user's input of touching a predetermined bar displayed on thedisplay window (for example, a title bar or action bar of the displaywindow) and dragging or flicking the predetermined bar in left or rightdirection.

The Fling Gesture Mode field 76 is a field in which the display windowis aligned or a display mode of the display window is changed based on auser's input of touching a predetermined bar displayed on the displaywindow (for example, a title bar or action bar of the display window)and dragging or flicking the predetermined bar.

If the Fling Gesture Mode field 76 is enabled, the terminal 100 mayprovide the following functions. For example, the terminal 100 maydisplay the display window in the left or right direction of the screenof the terminal 100 in a split mode based on a user's input of touchinga predetermined bar displayed on the display window and dragging orflicking the predetermined bar in a left or a right direction. Inaddition, the terminal 100 may change the display mode of the displaywindow based on a user's input of touching the predetermined bardisplayed on the display window and dragging or flicking thepredetermined bar in an upward direction. In addition, the terminal 100may reduce the size of the display window to a predetermined size basedon a user's input of touching the predetermined bar displayed on thedisplay window and dragging or flicking the predetermined bar in adownward direction.

The Move Gesture Mode field 77 is a field in which, if a ghost view(virtual window) formed by virtualizing the display window is moved toan upper edge, a lower edge, a left edge, or a right edge of the screenof the terminal 100, a function of displaying the display window in theform of the entire screen, a minimum screen, a right split screen, or aleft split screen is set.

The Two Finger Gesture Mode field 78 is a field in which, aspredetermined bars included in two display windows are together touchedfor a predetermined amount of time or more, two display windows arealigned in a split mode and are displayed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of changing a modeaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S810, the terminal 100 may set a movement mode as acontinuous mode based on a user's input that selects the movement modeas the continuous mode. In this case, when a user's drag input isdetected, the terminal 100 may move a first page displayed on the screenand a second page connected to the first page and may display a part ofthe first page and a part of the second page together on the screen.

When a user's input that requests execution of at least one applicationis detected, the terminal 100 may display an execution window of atleast one application on a part of the first page displayed on thescreen and a part of the second page in response to the user's input(see FIGS. 6A through 6C).

In operation S820, the terminal 100 may detect a user's mode changerequest that changes the movement mode from the continuous mode to adiscrete mode. In this case, in operation S830, the terminal 100 maychange the movement mode from the continuous mode to the discrete modein response to the user's mode change request.

In operation S840, the terminal 100 may move the execution window of theapplication displayed on a part of the first page and a part of thesecond page to one page and may display the execution window of theapplication displayed on one page. That is, the terminal 100 may selectone of the first and second pages and may display the execution windowof the application on one selected page.

In this case, the terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention may select one of the first and second pages basedon a first portion of the execution window of the at least oneapplication displayed in the first page to a second portion of theexecution window of the at least one application displayed in the secondpage. For example, when ⅔ of the execution window of the application isdisplayed on a part of the first page and ⅓ of the execution window ofthe application is displayed on a part of the second page, the terminal100 may select the first page on which a relatively large part of theexecution window of the application is displayed. Thus, the terminal 100may move the execution window of the application displayed on the firstpage and the second page connected to the first page together on thescreen in the continuous mode to the first page in the discrete mode andmay display the execution window of the application only on the firstpage.

On the other hand, when the movement mode is changed from the continuousmode to the discrete mode, the terminal 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may select one of the first andsecond pages displayed together on the screen and may display only oneselected page on the entire region of the screen.

In this case, the terminal 100 may select one of the first and secondpages based on the ratio of a part of the first page displayed on thescreen to a part of the second page displayed on the screen. Forexample, the terminal 100 may select the first page displayed in aregion corresponding to 3/4 of the entire region of the screen and maydisplay the first page on the entire region of the screen withoutdisplaying the second page when the movement mode is changed from thecontinuous mode into the discrete mode. The case that the movement modeis changed from the continuous mode to the discrete mode will bedescribed in more detail with reference to FIG. 9.

FIGS. 9A through 9D are views illustrating movement of an executionwindow of an application when a continuous mode is changed into adiscrete mode, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 9A, when a user's input that executes a newapplication 600 in the continuous mode is detected, a border betweenpages arranged in the logical space region 10 disappears, and theterminal 100 may display an execution window of the new application 600on a part of the second page and a part of the third page displayedtogether on the physical display region 20 (see FIG. 6C).

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, when a user's mode changerequest that changes the movement mode from the continuous mode to thediscrete mode, the terminal 100 may change the movement mode from thecontinuous mode to the discrete mode, and a border between pagesarranged in the logical space region 10 may be generated.

Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 9C, the terminal 100 may move the executionwindow of the application 600 to the second page and may display thewhole part of the second page on which the execution window of theapplication 600 is displayed, in the physical display region 20 of theterminal 100. That is, when the movement mode is changed from thecontinuous mode to the discrete mode, the terminal 100 may select onlyone from a plurality of pages displayed in the physical display region20 and may display one selected page in the physical display region 20.

On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 9D, according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the terminal 100 may notmove the execution window of the application 600 displayed together onthe second page and the third page to one page but may display the wholepart of the second page in which a part of the execution window of theapplication 600 is included, in the physical display region 20 of theterminal 100. That is, the terminal 100 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention may display the execution window ofthe application 600 executed in the continuous mode together on thesecond page and the third page in the discrete mode. When the user dragsthe screen in the left direction, the terminal 100 may display the thirdpage in which the other part of the execution window of the application600 is included, in the physical display region 20.

In FIGS. 8 and 9A through 9D, the case that the movement mode is changedfrom the continuous mode to the discrete mode has been described.However, the movement mode may be changed from the discrete mode to thecontinuous mode. When the movement mode is changed from the discretemode to the continuous mode, a border between pages in the discrete modedisappears, and an execution window of at least one applicationdisplayed on each page may be moved in units of pixel. Also, theexecution window of the application that is to be newly executed in thecontinuous mode may be displayed on a border between a plurality ofpages.

FIG. 10 is a view of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for moving aplurality of pages according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 10, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theuser touches the GUI 1010 through which a plurality of pages is moved,and the user also performs a drag operation so that a desired page maybe displayed on the screen.

The terminal 100 may provide a discrimination indication 1020 fordiscriminating a page that is currently displayed on the screen fromanother page. For example, according to the discrimination indication1020 of FIG. 10, there may be 5 pages displayed as the entire page, andthe page currently displayed on the screen may be the third page.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of editing a plurality ofpages according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S1110, the terminal 100 may receive a user's pinch input.For example, when the user touches two points of the screen by using twofingers and then drags the fingers on the screen in differentdirections, the terminal 100 may sense that a pinch event occurs.

In operation S1120, the terminal 100 may display a plurality of pages inthe form of thumbnails. In this case, the terminal 100 may arrange thethumbnails of the plurality of pages in the order in which the pluralityof pages is arranged on the logical space region 10 (see FIG. 1). Thethumbnails may be images in which the sizes of the plurality of pagesincluding the application are reduced at a predetermined ratio

In operation S1130, the terminal 100 may change positions where theplurality of pages is arranged or the position of an application.

For example, the terminal 100 may change the positions where theplurality of pages is arranged as one page is selected from among theplurality of pages displayed as thumbnails and a drag & drop operationis performed on the selected page.

In addition, the terminal 100 may move the selected application from afirst page to a second page as an application displayed on the firstpage among the plurality of pages displayed in the form of thumbnails isselected and a drag & drop operation is performed on the second page. Inthis case, the selected application may be displayed on the second page.Moving the application according to the present exemplary embodiment mayrefer to moving an application execution window in which the applicationis executed.

This will be described with reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B in moredetail.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are views of screens on which a plurality of pages isdisplayed as thumbnails according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 12A, the terminal 100 may receive a user's pinchinput on the screen.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, the terminal 100 may providean editing mode by displaying all of the plurality of pages asthumbnails on the screen. When the user drags a fourth page in adirection of a first page while touching the fourth page and drops thefourth page at the position of the first page, the terminal 100 maychange the arrangement position of the fourth page into the position ofthe first page and may display the fourth page in operation 1210.

In addition, when the user touches a header of a predeterminedapplication included in a third page for a predetermined amount of timeand selects the header and then performs a drag & drop operation on afifth page, the terminal 100 may move the predetermined applicationincluded in the third page to the fourth page and may display theapplication in operation 1220.

In the editing mode, the user may delete a particular page (orapplication) in operation 1230 or may add a new page in operation 1240.In addition, when the user touches a home button 1250 displayed at asecond page, the terminal 100 may terminate the editing mode and maydisplay the second page in the entire region of the screen.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a page inwhich an application selected by a user is included, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S1310, the terminal 100 may display the list of at leastone application that is executed on the terminal 100 on the screen. Inthis case, the list of at least one application may be displayed in theform of an icon indicating applications. In addition, the list of atleast one application may be displayed as screen shots of at least onepage in which at least one application is executed.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the terminal 100 maydisplay the list of at least one application on a home screen, or whenthe user touches (taps) a particular GUI or a particular region of thescreen (for example, the bottom of the screen), the terminal 100 maydisplay the list of at least one application on a part of the screen.

In operation S1320, the terminal 100 may receive selection of at leastone application from the list of at least one application. In this case,in operation S1330, the terminal 100 may display a page in which theselected application is included on the screen of the terminal 100. Thiswill be described with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B.

FIGS. 14A and 14B are views of screens on which the list of a pluralityof applications is displayed, according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 14A, according to the present exemplaryembodiment, the terminal 100 may display a list of applications 1400that are being executed on the bottom of the screen. As illustrated inFIG. 14B, when the user selects a third application from the list ofapplications 1400 among the applications arranged in the logical displayregion 10, the terminal 100 may display a page in which the thirdapplication is included in the entire region of the screen displayingthe physical display region 20.

Thus, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the user may searchfor a desired particular page quickly from a plurality of pages in whichapplications are executed.

FIG. 15 is a view of a user's input that allows an application beingdisplayed on a screen to be moved to another page, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, as an applicationincluded in a page displayed on the screen is executed and flicked, theterminal 100 may move the selected application from the page displayedon the screen to a connected page. In this case, the terminal 100 maydisplay a page to which the application is moved, on the screen and maydisplay the current page continuously.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the terminal 100 may display afifth page including windows in which a memo application 1510 and anapplication 1520 for providing the list of files are to be executed onthe screen. In this case, when the user touches a header of theapplication 1520 for providing the list of files and then flicks theheader, the terminal 100 may move the application 1520 for providing thelist of files to a third page connected to the fifth page in a directionof flick.

FIG. 16 is a view of a result of a screen on which an application beingdisplayed on the screen is moved to another page, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 16, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theterminal 100 may delete the execution window of the application 1520 forproviding the list of files from the fifth and may display the fifthpage in which only the memo application 1510 is included.

FIG. 17 is a view of a screen on which a page to which an application ismoved, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 17, according to the presentexemplary embodiment, when the application 1520 for providing the listof files is moved to the third page, the terminal 100 may display thethird page including the application 1520 for providing the list offiles on the entire screen.

Thus, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the user mayconveniently move a particular application to a particular page.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 18, the terminal 100 may include a user input unit110, a display unit 120, and a control unit 130. However, not all of theelements are essential elements. The terminal 100 may be implementedwith more or less elements than the elements shown in FIG. 18.

Hereinafter, the above-described elements will be sequentiallydescribed.

The user input unit 110 is a unit that allows a user to input data forcontrolling the terminal 100. The user input unit 110 may include a keypad, a dome switch, a touch pad (e.g., a contact type electrostaticcapacitive method, a pressure resistive layer method, an infrared raysensing method, a surface ultrasonic wave conduction method, anintegration type tension measurement method, a piezo effect method, orthe like), a jog wheel, a jog switch, or the like. In particular, whenthe touch pad configures a layer structure with the display unit 120that is described below, the touch pad may be referred to as a touchscreen.

The user input unit 110 may receive a user's gesture (for example, adrag gesture, a tap gesture, a flick gesture, or the like) on the screen(or page displayed on the screen). In addition, the user input unit 110may receive a user's pinch input on the screen (or page displayed on thescreen).

The user input unit 110 may receive a selection of at least oneapplication from the list of applications.

The display unit 120 displays information processed by the terminal 100.

For example, the display unit 120 may display a plurality of pagesincluding execution windows of the applications on the screen.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, when the display unit 120and the touch pad have a layer structure and are configured as a touchscreen, the display unit 120 may be used as an input unit, as well as anoutput unit. The display unit 120 may include at least one selected fromthe group including a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a thin filmtransistor-liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, aflexible display, a 3-Dimensional (3D) display, an electrophoreticdisplay, etc.

The touch screen may be configured to detect a touch input position, atouched area, and a touch input pressure. In addition, the touch screenmay be configured to detect a proximity touch as well as a real-touch.

In the present disclosure, a “real-touch” refers to the case where thescreen is actually touched by a pointer, and a “proximity-touch” refersto the case where the screen is not actually touched by the pointer andthe pointer remains spaced apart from the screen by a predetermineddistance. In the present disclosure, the pointer refers to an instrumentfor performing a real-touch or proximity-touch on a particular portionof a displayed screen, for example, a stylus pen, a finger, and thelike.

Although not shown, various sensors may be disposed inside or in thevicinity of the touch screen so as to sense a real-touch or aproximity-touch on the touch screen. A tactile sensor is an example of asensor for sensing a touch on the touch screen.

The tactile sensor refers to a sensor for sensing a touch on aparticular object at the same degree of human feeling or higher. Thetactile sensor may sense various information, such as roughness of atouch face, hardness of a touched object, temperature of a touch point,and the like.

A proximity sensor is an example of a sensor for sensing a touch of thetouch screen.

The proximity sensor refers to a sensor that detects whether an objectapproaches a predetermined detection face or an object exists in thevicinity of the predetermined detection face by using a force of anelectronic system or infrared rays without any mechanical touch. Thus,the proximity sensor has a considerably longer life span than thetactile sensor, and its utility is considerably higher than that of thetactile sensor.

Examples of proximity sensors include a transmissive photoelectricsensor, a direct reflective photoelectric sensor, a mirror reflectivephotoelectric sensor, a radio frequency oscillation proximity sensor, anelectrostatic capacitive proximity sensor, a magnetic proximity sensor,an infrared ray proximity sensor, and the like.

The display unit 120 may move and display a page displayed on the screenand a page connected to the page displayed on the screen according to anidentified movement mode.

For example, when the identified movement mode is a discrete mode, thedisplay unit 120 may move a plurality of pages one by one so that a pageconnected to the page displayed on the screen may be displayed in theentire region of the screen. That is, when the user drags or flicks thepage displayed on the screen, the user may identify the previous or nextpage.

In addition, when the identified movement mode is a continuous mode, thedisplay unit 120 may move the page displayed on the screen and theconnected page by the dragged length continuously and may display a partof the page displayed on the screen and a part of the connected pagetogether on the screen. That is, the user drags an object on the screenso that the page displayed on the screen and the connected page may becontinuously identified.

When a user's pinch input on the screen is received, the display unit120 may display all of a plurality of pages in the form of thumbnails onthe screen. That is, the display unit 120 may display the list of atleast one application that is executed on the terminal 100, on thescreen.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, when a selection of atleast one application from the list of at least one application isreceived, the display unit 120 may display a page in which the selectedapplication is included, from among the plurality of pages on the screenof the terminal 100.

When the page in which the selected application is included, is moved,the display unit 120 may display a page including the moved applicationon the screen.

The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the terminal 100.For example, the control unit 130 may control the user input unit 110,the display unit 120, and a memory (not shown).

The control unit 130 may identify a movement mode relating to movementof a page displayed on the screen. The movement mode according to thepresent exemplary embodiment may include a discrete mode and acontinuous mode. Thus, when a user's drag input is received, the controlunit 130 may identify whether a predetermined movement mode is adiscrete mode or a continuous mode.

The control unit 130 may also identify the movement mode based on thedrag input. For example, when the drag input is a one-finger drag input,the control unit 130 may determine the movement mode as a discrete mode,and when the drag input is a two-finger drag input, the control unit 130may determine the movement mode as a continuous mode. However, aspectsof the present invention are not limited thereto.

The control unit 130 may determine the size of a part of the pagedisplayed on the screen and the size of a part of the connected pagebased on the length of the drag input so as to display the determinedsizes on the screen. The control unit 130 may set a movement mode inadvance based on the user input.

As one page is selected from among a plurality of pages displayed in theform of thumbnails and is dragged and dropped, the control unit 130 maychange positions where the plurality of pages is arranged. As anapplication displayed at a first page among the plurality of pagesdisplayed in the form of thumbnails is selected and is dragged anddropped to a second page, the control unit 130 may move the selectedapplication from the first page to the second page and may display theapplication on the screen.

As the application included in the page displayed on the screen isselected and flicked, the control unit 130 may move the selectedapplication from the page displayed on the screen to the connected page.

The terminal 100 may further include a memory (not shown). The memory(not shown) may store a program for processing and controlling of thecontrol unit 130 and may perform a function of temporarily storinginput/output data.

The memory (not shown) may include at least one storage medium selectedfrom the group consisting of flash memory, hard disk type memory,multimedia card micro type memory, card type memory (for example, SDmemory, XD memory, or the like), Random Access Memory (RAM), Static RAM(SRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EEPROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), magnetic memory, amagnetic disk, an optical disk, etc. In addition, the terminal 100 mayoperate as a web storage for performing a storing function on theInternet.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, if aplurality of applications is executed by a user's input, an applicationthat has been previously executed than an application that is currentlyexecuted is in a standby state. In other words, a plurality ofapplications other than the application currently executed is maintainedin a pause state where execution of the plurality of applications stops.

Execution of the applications, i.e., the applications in the standbystate, stops while a snap shot of their own execution screen beforebeing in the pause state is displayed. In other words, if the user wantsto change one from among the plurality of applications, a terminalshould change an application that is currently executed into anapplication in the pause state and should execute the application to bechanged. Thus, an operation of the application cannot be continuouslyperformed.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a pluralityof applications being executed on a terminal, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, displaying or arranging a plurality of applications maymean that execution windows of a plurality of applications is displayedor arranged.

A terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionmay include a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), asmartphone, or a tablet computer that includes a Central Processing Unit(CPU) and a data storage device, such as memory, and that is capable ofperforming wired or wireless communication.

Referring to FIG. 19, the method of displaying a plurality ofapplications being executed on a terminal according to the currentexemplary embodiment of the present invention may include executing aplurality of applications in operation S100, extending a backgroundscreen based on the execution in operation S200, arranging the pluralityof applications executed on the extended background screen in operationS300, and displaying the extended background screen in operation S400.Here, the extended background screen includes a region that is currentlydisplayed by a display unit of the terminal and a region that is notdisplayed by the display unit of the terminal.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, executingthe plurality of applications may refer to a state where theapplications are currently executed on the terminal. In other words, allof the plurality of applications may be applications that are beingexecuted. For example, the plurality of applications may besimultaneously executed. Also, the plurality of applications accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be executedsequentially or at one time.

FIG. 20 is a view of a screen on which a plurality of applications beingexecuted on a terminal are displayed, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 20, an extended background screen 300 according to thecurrent exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include aregion 301 that is currently displayed by a display unit of the terminal900 that will be described below and a region 302 that is not displayedby the display unit of the terminal 900. The extended background screen300 of FIG. 20 may be the virtualized logical space region 10 describedabove.

Extending the background screen in operation S200 of FIG. 19 may includeextending the background screen from the currently-displayed region 301in a predetermined direction as the plurality of applications isexecuted.

The predetermined direction in which the background screen is extended,may include at least one selected from the group consisting of avertical direction, a horizontal direction, and a diagonal direction.

Also, arranging the plurality of applications executed on the extendedbackground screen 300 in operation S300 of FIG. 19 may include arrangingexecution screens of the plurality of applications executed on theextended background screen 300 according to a predetermined criterion.The predetermined criterion may include at least one of the order inwhich the plurality of applications is executed, and types of theplurality of applications.

For example, when one application that is a single application isexecuted, a background screen having the size corresponding to thecurrently-displayed region 301 may be used. That is, one application maybe displayed on the entirety of the screen of the display unit of theterminal 900.

A background screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may be the background screen 300 that is extended in at leastone selected from the group consisting of a vertical direction, ahorizontal direction, and a diagonal direction as the plurality ofapplications is executed.

As described above, executing the plurality of applications may includestarting operations of the plurality of applications and maintaining allof the applications in an executed state.

For example, if two applications are executed, the currently-displayedregion 301 may include an entire execution screen of a firstapplication. In this case, a second application may be arranged in theundisplayed region 302.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 20, the currently-displayed region 301 mayinclude the entire execution screen of the first application 200 and apart of an execution screen of the second application.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, arrangingexecution screens of the plurality of applications on the extendedbackground screen 300 according to the predetermined criterion mayinclude arranging the execution screens of the plurality of applicationson the extended background screen 300 according to the order in whichthe plurality of applications is executed, or types of the plurality ofapplications.

For example, the plurality of applications may be arranged according tothe order in which the plurality of applications is executed, whilemoving from the left to the right of the extended background screen 300.

Also, applications for playing media contents, such as movie, music, andthe like, may be arranged in a particular region of the extendedbackground screen 300. For example, applications for seeing a movie orfor listening to the music may be preset to be arranged on the top orbottom of the extended background screen 300.

Also, an application having the highest preference may be first arrangedon the extended background screen 300 according to preferences ofapplications that can be known by a user's use frequency of theapplications, and the other applications may be arranged on the extendedbackground screen 300 according to rankings of the other preferences.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of displaying anextended background screen by changing a currently-displayed region asthe extended background screen is moved, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a view of movement of an extended background screen and achange of a currently-displayed region, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 21 and 22, according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, the method may further include receiving anexternal input to the currently-displayed region 301 in operation S500,moving the extended background screen 300 in a predetermined directionbased on the received external input in operation S600, and displayingthe moved, extended background region 300 in operation S700. Thecurrently-displayed region 301 may be changed according to the movementdirection and the movement quantity of the extended background screen300.

The predetermined direction in which the extended background screen 300may be moved, may include at least one selected from the groupconsisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.

As the extended background screen 300 is moved, the region 301 that iscurrently displayed by a display unit of a terminal 900 may be changed,and execution screens 200 of a plurality of applications arranged on thebackground screen 300 may be moved by movement of the extendedbackground screen 300. The execution screens 200 of the plurality ofapplications may be moved in the movement direction of the extendedbackground screen 300, may be moved by the movement quantity of theextended background screen 300 and may be displayed.

For example, if an executed application is displayed as the entirescreen by the display unit of the terminal 900, the top of an executionscreen 200 of the executed application may be moved in a predetermineddirection so that the extended background screen 300 may be moved. Forexample, the top of the execution screen 200 may be dragged in the leftdirection so that the extended background screen 300 may be moved to theleft.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 22, the extended background screen 300according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may becontinuously displayed as a screen including execution screens 200 of aplurality of applications being executed on the terminal 900. Forexample, the currently-displayed region 301 and the undisplayed region302 may be continuously changed as the extended background screen 300 ismoved, and simultaneously, the whole or a part of the execution screens200 of the applications may be displayed on the extended backgroundscreen 300.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of displaying controlof applications that are arranged on an extended background screen andare executed thereon, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 23, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, the method may further include selecting at least onefrom among a plurality of applications that are executed in operationS1000, receiving a control input to at least one selected application inoperation S2000, and controlling an execution state of at least oneselected application based on the received control input in operationS3000.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,controlling the execution state of the application may include at leastone selected from the group consisting of changing the size of anexecution screen of at least one selected application, changing theposition of the execution screen of at least one selected application onthe extended background screen 300, and terminating at least oneselected application.

FIG. 24 is a view of control of applications to change a size of anapplication, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 25 is a view of control of applications to change aposition of an application, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIGS. 26A and 26B are views of control toterminate an application, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Selecting at least one from among a plurality of applications that areexecuted in operation S1000 may include selecting an application basedon an external input to an execution screen of the application.

For example, the external input may include a touch on the executionscreen of the executed application, or selection using a keyboard, ajoystick, or a mouse. For example, at least one from among a pluralityof applications executed may be selected based on the external inputapplied for a predetermined amount of time, such as 1.5 seconds or 2seconds.

Receiving a control input to at least one selected application inoperation S2000 may include receiving a control input applied to anexecution screen of an executed application. The control input mayinclude touch on the execution screen or an input applied using akeyboard, a joystick, or a mouse.

The control input according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may include at least one selected from the group consisting ofan input for changing the size of an execution screen of at least oneselected application, an input for changing the position of an executionscreen of at least one selected application on the extended backgroundscreen, and an input for terminating at least one selected application.

Referring to FIG. 24, the size of the execution screen of theapplication may be changed by double clicking the top of the executionscreen of the executed application, for example. As illustrated in FIG.24, the terminal 900 may change the size of an execution screen 2410 ofthe application at various ratios, such as 25% in screen 2411, 75% inscreen 2413, and 100% in screen 2415 with respect to the executionscreen 2410.

Referring to FIG. 25, the terminal 900 may change the position of theexecution screen of the application on the extended background screen300 may be from position 2510 to position 2511 by dragging and movingthe top of the execution screen of the executed application, forexample.

Referring to FIG. 26A, execution of the application may be terminated byclicking a particular portion of the execution screen of theapplication. Referring to FIG. 26B, execution of the application mayalternatively be terminated by moving the execution screen of theapplication to the bottom of the extended background screen 300.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 26A, execution of the applicationmay be terminated by clicking a termination button on the executionscreen. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 26B, execution of the applicationmay also be terminated by selecting the application to be terminated andby moving the selected application to the bottom of the extendedbackground screen 300.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram of a terminal for displaying a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 27, the terminal 900 for displaying the plurality ofapplications being executed on the terminal 900 according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an executionunit 910 for executing the plurality of applications, a screen extendingunit 920 for extending a background screen based on execution, anarranging unit 930 for arranging the plurality of applications executedon the extended background screen, and a display unit 940 for displayingthe extended background screen.

The extended background screen 300 may include a region 301 that iscurrently displayed by the display unit 940 and a region 302 that is notdisplayed by the display unit 940.

The screen extending unit 920 may include extending the backgroundscreen 300 from the currently-displayed region 301 in a predetermineddirection as the plurality of applications is executed. Thepredetermined direction may include at least one selected from the groupconsisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction. The screen extending unit 920 according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention may extend a virtualizedlogical space region as the plurality of applications is executed.

The arranging unit 930 may arrange execution screens of the plurality ofapplications executed on the extended background screen 300 according toa predetermined criterion. The predetermined criterion may include atleast one of the order in which the plurality of applications isexecuted, or types of the plurality of applications. The arranging unit930 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present inventionmay arrange execution windows of the plurality of applications executedon the terminal 900 in the virtualized logical space region.

The display unit 940 may display an execution window of at least oneapplication from among execution windows of the plurality ofapplications arranged in the virtualized logical space region, in adisplay region of the terminal 900.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of a terminal for displaying a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 28, the terminal 900 according to the currentexemplary embodiment of the present invention, in addition to theterminal 900 described above with reference to FIG. 27, may furtherinclude a receiving unit 950 for receiving an external input to thecurrently-displayed region 301 and a screen moving unit 960 for movingthe extended background screen 300 in a predetermined direction based onthe received external input, apart from the execution unit 910, thescreen extending unit 920, the arranging unit 930, and the display unit940. Here, the display unit 940 may display the moved, extendedbackground screen 300. The currently-displayed region 301 may be changedaccording to the movement direction and the movement quantity of thebackground screen 300. The predetermined direction may include at leastone selected from the group consisting of a vertical direction, ahorizontal direction, and a diagonal direction.

The screen moving unit 960 of FIG. 28 may move execution windows of theplurality of applications that are arranged in the virtualized logicalspace region, based on a user's touch input.

Also, the terminal 900 of FIG. 28 may further include a selection unit970 for selecting at least one from among a plurality of applicationsexecuted, a receiving unit 950 for receiving a control input to at leastone selected application, and a control unit 980 for controlling anexecution state of at least one selected application based on thereceived control input.

Controlling the execution state of the application according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention may include at least oneselected from the group consisting of the size of an execution screen ofat least one selected application, changing the position of an executionscreen of at least one selected application on an extended backgroundscreen, and terminating at least one selected application. Descriptionsrelating to the above-described methods may apply to the terminal 900 ofFIG. 28. Thus, descriptions regarding the same contents of the terminal900 as those of the above-described methods and elements will beomitted.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a method of executing a plurality ofapplications, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 29, the method of executing the plurality ofapplications according to the current exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention includes operations to be performed by the terminal100 of FIG. 18 and the terminal 900 of FIGS. 27 and 28. Thus, althoughomitted below, the above descriptions regarding the terminals 100 ofFIG. 18 and the terminal 900 of FIGS. 27 and 28 may also apply to themethod of executing the plurality of applications illustrated in FIG.29.

In operation S2910, the terminal 900 may arrange execution windows ofthe plurality of applications to be executed on the terminal 900 in avirtualized logical space region. The virtualized logical space regionaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be aspace in which a display region of the terminal 900 is virtuallyextended. Each of the execution windows of the plurality of applicationsaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may have asize that is the same as or smaller than that of the display region ofthe terminal 900. An execution window of at least one application may bedisplayed on a page having the same size as that of the display regionof the terminal 900.

The terminal 900 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may arrange the execution windows of the plurality ofapplications in a virtualized logical space region in at least oneselected from the group consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontaldirection, and a diagonal direction. Also, the terminal 900 according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention may arrange theexecution windows of the plurality of applications in the virtualizedlogical space region based on at least one of the order in which theplurality of applications is executed, and types of the plurality ofapplications.

On the other hand, the terminal 900 according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention may extend the virtualized logical space regionbased on execution of the plurality of applications. For example, whenthe plurality of applications is executed, a page is dynamically addedto the virtualized logical space region so that the virtualized logicalspace region may be extended.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, thevirtualized logical space region may be extended based on user'ssetting. For example, a page is added to the virtualized logical spaceregion based on a user's page addition request so that the virtualizedlogical space region may be extended (see 1240 of FIG. 12B). In thiscase, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, theuser may also adjust the size of the added page.

In operation S2920, the terminal 900 may move the execution windows ofthe plurality of applications arranged in the virtualized logical spaceregion based on a user's touch input. For example, when the user dragsthe screen in a predetermined direction, the terminal 900 may move theexecution windows of the plurality of applications in the drag directionso that an execution window of a particular application may be displayedon the screen.

The terminal 900 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may move the virtualized logical space region in which theexecution windows of the plurality of applications are arranged, so asto move the execution windows of the plurality of applications. Also,the terminal 900 may also move only the execution windows of theplurality of applications. That is, the terminal 900 may not move thevirtualized logical space region but may change only positions where theexecution windows of the plurality of applications are arranged, in thevirtualized logical space region.

The user's touch input according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention may include at least one selected from the groupconsisting of a drag input regarding a region in which an executionwindow of at least one application is displayed, of the display regionof the terminal 900 and a drag input regarding a region in which theexecution window of at least one application is not displayed, of thedisplay region of the terminal 900. That is, the user may drag theregion in which the execution window of at least one application isdisplayed, or the region in which the execution window of at least oneapplication is not displayed.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when theuser drags a region in which an execution window of at least oneapplication from among execution windows of a plurality of applicationsis displayed in the display region, in a predetermined direction, theterminal 900 moves only the execution window of at least oneapplication, and when the user does not drag a region in which theexecution window of at least one application is not displayed in thedisplay region, the terminal 900 may move all of the execution windowsof the plurality of applications displayed in the display region.

The terminal 900 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention may identify a movement mode relating to movement of theexecution windows of the plurality of applications. The terminal 900 maymove the execution windows of the plurality of applications according tothe identified movement mode. The movement mode according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a discretemode in which the execution windows of the plurality of applications arediscontinuously moved, and a continuous mode in which the executionwindows of the plurality of applications are continuously moved.

For example, the terminal 100 may move the execution windows of theplurality of applications in units of execution window in the discretemode. The terminal 100 may move the execution windows of the pluralityof applications in units of pixel in the continuous mode. The abovedescriptions of operation S220 of FIG. 2 of moving a plurality of pagesaccording to a movement mode may apply to a method of moving theplurality of applications according to the movement mode and thus,detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In operation S2930, the terminal 900 may display an execution window ofat least one application from among the execution windows arranged inthe virtualized logical space region in the display region of theterminal 900 according to movement of the execution windows of theplurality of applications.

When the execution window of at least one application is discontinuouslymoved according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, theterminal 900 may display the entire execution window of at least oneapplication on the screen. When the execution window of at least oneapplication is continuously moved according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, the terminal 900 may display a partof the execution window of at least one application on the screenaccording to a movement quantity of the execution window of at least oneapplication.

The method can be performed by program commands that can be executed ina computer and can be recorded on a non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium. Examples of the non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium can include program commands, data files, datastructures, and the like in a single or combination form. The programcommands recorded on the non-transitory computer-readable recordingmedium can be particularly designed and configured for the presentinvention or can be well-known to one of ordinary skill in computersoftware. Examples of the non-transitory computer-readable recordingmediums include hardware devices that are particularly configured tostore and execute program commands, such as hard disks, floppy disks,magnetic media, such as magnetic tapes, optical media, such as CompactDisc (CD)-Read-Only-Memories (ROMs) or Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs),magneto-optical media, such as floptical disks, ROM, Random-AccessMemory (RAM), flash memory, etc. Examples of the program commandsinclude advanced language codes that can be executed in a computer byusing an interpreter, as well as mechanical language codes that are madeby a compiler.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference tocertain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displaying a plurality of pages on ascreen of a terminal, the method comprising: detecting a user's gesturethat requests movement of the plurality of pages; identifying a movementmode relating to the movement of the plurality of pages; and moving anddisplaying a first page displayed on the screen and a second pageconnected to the first page displayed on the screen according to theidentified movement mode, wherein the movement mode is one of a discretemode and a continuous mode.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the movingand displaying comprises, in the discrete mode, moving the first pagedisplayed on the screen and the second page connected to the first pagein units of page, and in the continuous mode, moving the first pagedisplayed on the screen and the second page connected to the first pagein units of pixel.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving anddisplaying comprises, when the identified movement mode is the discretemode, moving the first page displayed on the screen and the second pageconnected to the first page and displaying the second page in an entireregion of the screen.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving anddisplaying comprises, when the identified movement mode is thecontinuous mode, moving the first page displayed on the screen and thesecond page connected to the first page and displaying a part of thefirst page and a part of the second page together on the screen.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, further comprising: determining a size of the part ofthe first page displayed on the screen and a size of the part of thesecond page displayed on the screen based on a length of the user'sgesture.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising: detecting auser's input that requests execution of at least one application; anddisplaying an execution window of the at least one application on thepart of the first page displayed on the screen and the part of thesecond page displayed on the screen in response to the user's input. 7.The method of claim 6, further comprising: detecting a user's modechange request that changes the movement mode from the continuous modeto the discrete mode; changing the movement mode from the continuousmode to the discrete mode in response to the user's mode change request;selecting one of the first page and the second page; and displaying theexecution window of the at least one application on the one selectedpage.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selecting of the one of thefirst page and the second page comprises selecting the one of the firstpage and the second page based on a ratio of a first portion of theexecution window of the at least one application displayed in the firstpage to a second portion of the execution window of the at least oneapplication displayed in the second page.
 9. The method of claim 7,wherein the changing of the movement mode from the continuous mode tothe discrete mode comprises: selecting one of the first page and thesecond page based on a ratio of the part of the first page displayed onthe screen to the part of the second page displayed on the screen; anddisplaying the one selected page of the first page and the second pagein an entire region of the screen.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: setting the movement mode in advance based on a user'sinput.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of themovement mode comprises identifying the movement mode based on a type ofthe user's gesture, and wherein the user's gesture comprises at leastone of a drag gesture and a flick gesture.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the identifying of the movement mode comprises, if the user'sgesture comprises a one-finger drag input, determining that the movementmode is the discrete mode, and if the user's gesture comprises atwo-finger drag input, determining that the movement mode is thecontinuous mode.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the second page is apage connected to the first page in at least one selected from a groupconsisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, and adiagonal direction.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a user's pinch input on the screen; displaying all of theplurality of pages as thumbnails on the screen; as one page is selectedfrom the plurality of pages displayed as thumbnails and the selectedpage is dragged and dropped, changing positions where the plurality ofpages is arranged; and as an execution window of an applicationdisplayed on a third page from among the plurality of pages displayed asthumbnails is selected and is dragged and dropped to a fourth page,moving the execution window of the application from the third page tothe fourth page and displaying the execution window of the applicationon the fourth page.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:displaying a list of at least one application that is executed by theterminal on the screen; receiving a selection of at least oneapplication from the list of the at least one application; anddisplaying a page where an execution window of the selected applicationis included, from among the plurality of pages, on the screen of theterminal
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: as an executionwindow of an application included in the first page displayed on thescreen is selected and flicked in a direction of the second page, movingthe execution window of the selected application from the first pagedisplayed on the screen to the second page connected to the first page;and displaying the second page to which the execution window of theapplication is moved, on the screen.
 17. A terminal for displaying aplurality of pages on a screen, the terminal comprising: a user inputunit detecting a user's gesture that requests movement of the pluralityof pages; a control unit identifying a movement mode relating to themovement of the plurality of pages; and a display unit moving anddisplaying a first page displayed on the screen and a second pageconnected to the first page displayed on the screen according to theidentified movement mode, wherein the movement mode is one of a discretemode and a continuous mode.
 18. The terminal of claim 17, wherein, whenthe identified movement mode is the discrete mode, the display unitmoves the first page displayed on the screen and the second pageconnected to the first page and displays the second page in an entireregion of the screen, and wherein, when the identified movement mode isthe continuous mode, the display unit moves the first page displayed onthe screen and the second page connected to the first page and displaysa part of the first page and a part of the second page together on thescreen.
 19. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the control unitdetermines a size of the part of the first page displayed on the screenand a size of the part of the second page displayed on the screen basedon a length of the user's gesture.
 20. The terminal of claim 18, whereinthe user input unit detects a user's input that requests execution of atleast one application, and the display unit displays an execution windowof the at least one application on the part of the first page displayedon the screen and the part of the second page displayed on the screen inresponse to the user's input.
 21. The terminal of claim 20, wherein theuser input unit detects a user's mode change request that changes themovement mode from the continuous mode to the discrete mode, and thecontrol unit changes the movement mode from the continuous mode to thediscrete mode and selects one of the first page and the second page, andcontrols the display unit so that the execution window of the at leastone application is displayed on the one selected page in response to theuser's mode change request.
 22. The terminal of claim 17, wherein thecontrol unit sets the movement mode in advance based on a user's input.23. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the control unit identifies themovement mode based on a type of the user's gesture.
 24. The terminal ofclaim 23, wherein, if the user's gesture comprises a one-finger draginput, the control unit determines that the movement mode is thediscrete mode, and if the gesture comprises a two-finger drag input, thecontrol unit determines that the movement mode is the continuous mode.25. The terminal of claim 17, wherein the user input unit receives auser's pinch input on the screen, the display unit displays all of theplurality of pages as thumbnails on the screen, as one page is selectedfrom the plurality of pages displayed as thumbnails and the selectedpage is dragged and dropped, the control unit changes positions wherethe plurality of pages is arranged, and as one page is selected from theplurality of pages displayed as thumbnails and the selected page isdragged and dropped, the control unit changes positions where theplurality of pages is arranged.
 26. The terminal of claim 17, whereinthe display unit displays a list of at least one application that isexecuted by the terminal on the screen, the user input unit receives aselection of at least one application from the list of the at least oneapplication, and the display unit displays a page where an executionwindow of the selected application is included, from among the pluralityof pages, on the screen of the terminal.
 27. The terminal of claim 17,wherein, as an execution window of an application included in the firstpage displayed on the screen is selected and flicked in a direction ofthe second page, the control unit moves the execution window of theselected application from the first page displayed on the screen to thesecond page connected to the first page.
 28. A method of displaying aplurality of applications being executed on a terminal, the methodcomprising: executing the plurality of applications; extending abackground screen based on the execution; arranging the plurality ofapplications executed on the extended background screen; and displayingthe extended background screen, wherein the extended background screencomprises a region that is currently displayed by a display unit of theterminal and a region that is not currently displayed by the displayunit of the terminal.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the arrangingcomprises: extending the background screen from the currently-displayedregion in a predetermined direction as the plurality of applications isexecuted; and arranging execution screens of the plurality ofapplications executed on the extended background screen according to apredetermined criterion, wherein the predetermined direction comprisesat least one selected from a group consisting of a vertical direction, ahorizontal direction, and a diagonal direction, wherein thepredetermined criterion comprises at least one selected from a groupconsisting of an order in which the plurality of applications isexecuted, and types of the plurality of applications.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, further comprising: receiving an external input to thecurrently-displayed region; moving the extended background screen in apredetermined direction based on the received external input; anddisplaying the moved, extended background screen, wherein thecurrently-displayed region is changed according to a movement directionand a movement quantity of the background screen.
 31. The method ofclaim 29, further comprising: selecting at least one from among theplurality of applications executed; receiving a control input to the atleast one selected application; and controlling an execution state ofthe at least one selected application based on the received controlinput, wherein the controlling of the executing state of the at leastone selected application based on the received control input comprisesat least one selected from a group consisting of changing a size of anexecution screen of the at least one selected application, changing aposition of the execution screen of the at least one selectedapplication on the extended background screen, and terminating the atleast one selected application.
 32. A terminal for displaying aplurality of applications being executed on the terminal, the terminalcomprising: an execution unit executing the plurality of applications; ascreen extending unit extending a background screen based on theexecution; an arranging unit arranging the plurality of applicationsexecuted on the extended background screen; and a display unitdisplaying the extended background screen, wherein the extendedbackground screen comprises a region that is currently displayed by adisplay unit of the terminal and a region that is not currentlydisplayed by the display unit of the terminal.
 33. The terminal of claim32, wherein the screen extending unit extends the background screen fromthe currently-displayed region in a predetermined direction as theplurality of applications is executed, and the arranging unit arrangesexecution screens of the plurality of applications executed on theextended background screen according to a predetermined criterion,wherein the predetermined direction comprises at least one selected froma group consisting of a vertical direction, a horizontal direction, anda diagonal direction, wherein the predetermined criterion comprises atleast one selected from a group consisting of an order in which theplurality of applications is executed, and types of the plurality ofapplications.
 34. The terminal of claim 33, further comprising: areceiving unit receiving an external input to the currently-displayedregion; and a screen moving unit moving the extended background screenin a predetermined direction based on the received external input,wherein the display unit displays the moved, extended background screen,and the currently-displayed region is changed according to a movementdirection and a movement quantity of the background screen.
 35. Theterminal of claim 33, further comprising: a selection unit selecting atleast one from among the plurality of applications executed; a receivingunit receiving a control input to the at least one selected application;and a control unit controlling an execution state of the at least oneselected application based on the received control input, wherein thecontrolling of the executing state of the at least one selectedapplication based on the received control input comprises at least oneselected from a group consisting of changing a size of an executionscreen of the at least one selected application, changing a position ofthe execution screen of the at least one selected application on theextended background screen, and terminating the at least one selectedapplication.
 36. A method of executing a plurality of applications on aterminal, the method comprising: arranging execution windows of theplurality of applications executed on the terminal in a virtualizedlogical space region; moving the execution windows of the plurality ofapplications arranged in the virtualized logical space region based on auser's touch input to the terminal; and displaying an execution windowof at least one application from among the execution windows of theplurality of applications arranged in the virtualized logical spaceregion in a display region of the terminal based on the movement,wherein the virtualized logical space region is a space in which thedisplay region of the terminal is virtually extended.
 37. The method ofclaim 36, wherein the arranging comprises arranging the executionwindows of the plurality of applications in the virtualized logicalspace region based on at least one selected from a group consisting ofan order in which the plurality of applications is executed, and typesof the plurality of applications.
 38. The method of claim 36, whereinthe arranging comprises arranging the execution windows of the pluralityof applications in at least one selected from a group consisting of avertical direction, a horizontal direction, and a diagonal direction.39. The method of claim 36, further comprising: executing the pluralityof applications; and extending the virtualized logical space regionbased on the execution.
 40. The method of claim 36, wherein the movingof the execution windows of the plurality of applications comprises:identifying a movement mode relating to movement of the executionwindows of the plurality of applications; and moving the executionwindows of the plurality of applications according to the identifiedmovement mode, wherein the movement mode comprises one of a discretemode in which the execution windows of the plurality of applications arediscontinuously displayed in the display region, and a continuous modein which the execution windows of the plurality of applications arecontinuously displayed in the display region.
 41. The method of claim36, wherein the user's touch input comprises at least one selected froma group consisting of a drag input regarding a region in which theexecution window of the at least one application is displayed, of thedisplay region and a drag input regarding a region in which an executionwindow of at least one application is not displayed, of the displayregion.